AT&T and Candle Media’s ATTN: Join Forces to Spotlight the Impact of the Digital Divide With New Documentary: Route to Connection
May 21 2024 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker Eve Van Dyke to
Executive Produce and Creative Direct Film Highlighting a Community
in Texas Transformed by Connection
Available to Stream on ATTN: YouTube and
Facebook Beginning June 14th, 2024
ATTN: the leading purpose-driven, storytelling media company and
a division of Candle Media, and AT&T today announced that they
are collaborating on a documentary to spotlight the lives impacted
by the digital divide. Across the U.S., tens of millions of
Americans still don’t have access to high-speed home internet.
Route to Connection will tell the story of the community of
Amarillo, TX, which has one of the lowest internet connectivity
rates in the United States, and how it is being transformed by
connection. Emmy-award winning filmmaker Eve Van Dyke will serve as
the executive producer and creative director for the project which
will be available to stream on ATTN: YouTube and Facebook starting
June 14th, 2024.
Route to Connection follows three Amarillo residents as they
achieve their dreams with the help of faster and more reliable
internet. Through the eyes of Vicky (an aspiring teacher), Serges
(a small business owner), and Natalie (a student), the film
highlights how the lack of reliable internet impacts the community
and details their inspiring journeys as their access to improved
connectivity opens doors to social and professional opportunities.
Most importantly, Route to Connection shows how they are beating
the odds to do better, just like the city of Amarillo itself. ATTN:
serves as the creative engine behind the documentary, which was
executed in collaboration with AT&T and global media agency
Hearts & Science.
“Internet technology is essential to almost every aspect of our
daily lives, but something so many of us take for granted and rely
on constantly, is also a serious point of inequality. Before we can
truly address the digital divide, we need people to recognize this
is a problem that requires solving. Sharing stories like the
resilient community of Amarillo, TX is a starting point,” said
ATTN: CEO Matthew Segal. “Eve is an incredible filmmaker who
powerfully and delicately showcases this national crisis in a way
that highlights the life-changing impact that improved connectivity
can bring. And we couldn’t have done this without AT&T, a
company driven to connect people.”
“Our network connects millions to greater possibility every
single day, but there is still work to do. This documentary uses
the power of storytelling to create awareness and move people in a
way that they may not have experienced around this issue before. It
puts a face, a name, a story to something that affects so many, yet
lacks the awareness it demands in order to be resolved.”
said Kellyn Smith Kenny, Chief Marketing & Growth
Officer, AT&T. “As a company, we’ve made a commitment to
help people get and stay connected to the opportunities and dreams
they are chasing. It’s in our DNA – and I’m proud that we show up
every day to do just that because we really believe even one
connection can change everything.”
Eve Van Dyke is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker, writer, and
producer. She started her career directing music videos for indie
bands in Western Massachusetts, ultimately transitioning into long
form work after living in Mexico City on a Fulbright scholarship.
She has since worked with VICE, HBO, The New York Times, and
Wieden+Kennedy to create award winning documentaries that have
received millions of views online and have been highlighted as
Vimeo Staff Picks, alongside her work on original scripted shorts
and feature development. Her screenplays have been selected in the
Gotham Episodic Lab and Pitch Week and have been recognized as
finalists by Screencraft and the Academy Nicholl fellowship. She is
currently working on her first full length documentary as well as
her scripted feature film debut.
Driven to connect people, AT&T is putting the best of its
reach and resources to work to bring the benefits of affordable,
high-speed internet and digital literacy resources to all. AT&T
is committed to keeping customers and communities connected –
through investing in its networks and expanding their Connected
Learning Centers and curriculum. AT&T is working with state and
local governments to efficiently build out broadband networks to
narrow the digital divide, including in Amarillo where AT&T has
broken ground to install ultra-fast internet for more than 22,000
underserved residents. Already underway, the project will be
completed by September 2025. Visit HERE To learn more about
AT&T’s efforts to narrow the digital divide.
About ATTN:
ATTN: is a media company and social publisher that bridges
entertainment with topical issues to create a more informed world.
Masters of modern storytelling, ATTN:’s creative shop leverages its
publisher roots to put brands at the center of culture and,
ultimately, the center of attention. ATTN: is part of Candle Media,
an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high
quality, category-defining brands and franchises.
About AT&T
We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and
neighbors, plus nearly 2.5 million businesses, connect to greater
possibility. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G
wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate
to improve lives. For more information about AT&T Inc.
(NYSE:T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn
more at investors.att.com.
About Hearts &
Science
Hearts & Science, an Omnicom Media Group agency, transforms
data signals into meaningful connections between brands and
consumers that drive exponential growth. Purpose-built for the
world of personalized digital marketing and powered by the Omni
marketing orchestration system, Hearts & Science draws on the
vast expertise and resources of the OMG platform to deliver media
solutions that enable brands to create and strengthen emotional
connections with their consumers across all attention
touchpoints.
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Media Contacts ATTN:
ATTN@ledecompany.com
AT&T: Sarah Pierce AT&T Corporate Communications Email:
sh121a@att.com
Hearts & Science Belle Gauvry Omnicom Media Group, Global
Head of Communications Email:
isabelle.gauvry@omnicommediagroup.com